The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. David Bowie says that he didn’t give anyone permission to use his songs in a new play about his life called Heroes: The Musical; the show, written by Deep Singh, is currently set to premiere in London next March. [via NME]

2. Filmmaker Ken Russell, who was considered one of the most controversial directors in British cinema, and best known for projects like Women in Love and Altered States, died yesterday at the age of 84 following a series of strokes. [via ArtsBeat]

3. Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 won the Thanksgiving weekend box office, but The Muppets still managed to have a decent second place debut, bringing in $43 million. Not so lucky? Other family-friendly films like Arthur Christmas and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo. [via Vulture]

4. It has been a year since Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark first opened on Broadway, and producers are struggling to figure out how to make back the $75 million they invested in the show. Among their ideas: adding new scenes and a new musical number to the show each year, “making it akin to a new comic book edition.” [via NYT]

5. Pippa Middleton has signed a book deal with publisher Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin, that’s reportedly worth more than $600,000 to write a guide to “being the perfect party hostess.” Look for it to hit shelves in time for next Christmas. [via Telegraph]